Monika Sieverding

Women and computers. Effects of stereotype threat on attribution of failure

This study investigated whether stereotype threat can influence womens attributions of failure in a computer task. Male and female college-age students (n=86, 16-21 years old) from Germany were asked to work on a computer task and were hinted beforehand that in this task, either (a) men usually perform better than women do (negative threat condition), or (b) women usually perform better than men do (positive condition), or (c) they received no threat or gender-related information (control group). The final part of the task was prepared to provide an experience of failure: due to a faulty USB-memory stick, completion of the task was not possible. Results suggest a stereotype threat effect on womens attribution of failure: in the negative threat condition, women attributed the failure more internally (to their own inability), and men more externally (to the faulty technical equipment). In the positive and control conditions, no significant gender differences in attribution emerged.

Why do Highly Qualified Women (Still) Earn Less? Gender Differences in Long-Term Predictors of Career Success

Our study investigated gender differences in the long-term effects of education, work experience, agentic personality traits, and number of children on career success (i.e., salary) in medicine. German male and female students (N = 99) were surveyed at a German medical school (T1) and 15 years later (T2). Women interrupted their careers for longer than men (d = .92). Men had a substantially higher income at T2 (d = 1.07). Career interruptions, agentic personality traits, and high school grades were significant predictors of salary for both sexes. High final grades at medical school were significantly and positively related to salary but only for men. Low final grades at medical school and number of children predicted the length of career interruptions. For women, number of children was significantly and positively related to career interruptions. For men, number of children was significantly but negatively related to career interruptions. The findings corroborate research from other occupational fields, showing that a discontinuous work history has a negative influence on career success and that human capital variables are better rewarded for men than for women.

‘Be Cool!’: Emotional Costs of Hiding Feelings in a Job Interview

The goal of this research was to study display rules and emotional suppression in an employment interview. Participants, 74 graduating university students, were told that their videotaped performance in a simulated job interview would be evaluated by personnel experts. In a post-interview questionnaire, participants were asked about the display rules influencing their behavior in the interview. They were also asked whether they had tried to suppress or hide (negative) emotions during the interview. More men than women stated that they had tried to hide or suppress their feelings; these participants were classified as (emotion) suppressors. Participants who stated that they had not tried to hide or suppress their feelings during the interview were classified as nonsuppressors. The validity of self-reported suppression was supported by the external evaluations of two judges, who observed less nonverbal expressiveness (hand to head movements) in suppressors of both sexes and less anxiety in female suppressors. Suppressors were evaluated as more competent than nonsuppressors. In women, but not in men, emotional suppression was associated with increased self-reports of depressed state in the post-interview questionnaire.

Young adults' images of abstaining and drinking: Prototype dimensions, correlates, and assessment methods

This research investigated contents of actor and abstainer prototypes with regard to young adults’ social drinking combining quantitative and qualitative approaches (adjective ratings, N = 300; open answers, N = 90). Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses yielded two factors (sociability/hedonism, responsibility) in both prototypes, confirmed by qualitative data. Given the importance for intention and willingness to drink alcohol, interventions should focus on the factor ‘sociability/hedonism’ of the actor and the abstainer prototype to reduce heavy drinking; addressing ‘responsibility’ may be ineffective. Participants’ evaluations appeared to be less prone to mean tendencies subsequent to open answers compared with adjective scales.

Frauen unterschätzen sich: Selbstbeurteilungs-Biases in einer simulierten Bewerbungssituation

In einer im Labor simulierten Bewerbungssituation wurden leistungsbezogene Selbstbeurteilungen in Abhangigkeit von Geschlecht und Instrumentalitat im Selbstkonzept untersucht. 74 Manner und Frauen absolvierten individuell einen schriftlichen Leistungstest, einen Vortrag zur Selbstdarstellung der beruflichen Qualifikation sowie ein standardisiertes Bewerbungsinterview. Vortrag und Bewerbungsinterview wurden videographiert. Frauen schatzten sich in allen Phasen des Versuchs als deutlich weniger erfolgreich ein. Im Vergleich zur erreichten Punktezahl im Leistungstest und zur Fremdbeurteilung eines Videoausschnittes aus dem Bewerbungsinterview lag bei Frauen eine eindeutige Selbstunterschatzung vor. Bei den Selbstbeurteilungen der Manner zeigte sich im Vergleich zum Leistungstest eine Selbstuberschatzung, im Vergleich zur Fremdbeurteilung eine realistische Selbsteinschatzung. Die Instrumentalitat im Selbstkonzept war mit der Selbsteinschatzung als «erfolgreich» assoziiert, allerdings nur bei den mannlichen Probanden.

Information About Low Participation in Cancer Screening Demotivates Other People

Health education campaigns that aim to increase rates of attendance at preventive health screenings often present information about low participation rates. An example from the United States reads, “A new survey . . . found that 89% of women still do not think or are not sure that they are at risk for infection with the virus” (Gynecologic Cancer Foundation, 2009). One from Germany states, “Only every second woman and every fifth man in Germany makes use of these cancer screening examinations” (Deutsche Krebshilfe e.V., n.d.). Does information about low rates of participation motivate or demotivate individuals who have not yet made use of a preventive health service? Two main types of social influences on human behavior are distinguished (Deutsch & Gerard, 1955): normative social influence (what is commonly approved) and informational social influence (what is commonly done). The latter type of social influence has recently been referred to as the “Cialdini effect” (Keizer, Lindenberg, & Steg, 2008): “If everyone is doing it, it must be a sensible thing to do” (Cialdini, Reno, & Kallgren, 1990, p. 1015). Norms based on what is commonly done, or descriptive norms, were first convincingly demonstrated in field studies on littering behavior, but they influence health-related behavior as well (Rivis & Sheeran, 2003). People may infer such norms from information on the proportion of people who engage in a particular behavior (Jemmott, Ditto, & Croyle, 1986). Buunk, van den Eijnden, and Siero (2002) found an indirect effect of (bogus) prevalence information regarding safe-sex practices among students. The effect on students’ intention to use condoms was the result of a change in perceived social norms. A study of 2,426 German men detected large differences in their estimations of the prevalence of participation in cancer screening, and these estimates varied as a function of the men’s own participation (Sieverding, Matterne, & Ciccarello, 2010). Nonattenders estimated that only 28% of other men would undergo cancer screening, whereas irregular attenders estimated that 36% would, and regular attenders estimated that 45% would. Here, we report a study in which we tested the hypothesis that prevalence information about cancer screening is causally linked to intention to participate in cancer screening. Method

Gender Differences in FOBT Use: Evidence from a Large German Survey

We examined prevalence and correlates of fecal occult blood testing (FOBT) uptake in a sample of men and women aged 50 to 70 years without a personal history of cancer (n=15,810). The data was collected in 2004 through the Health Care Access Panel (HCAP), a nationally generalizable survey of German households. A pronounced gender difference in FOBT use emerged. Women reported regular use more often, while men reported irregular use with a higher frequency. Nearly every third men (29.6%), compared to 17.5% of the women had never made use of FOBT. The influence of socioeconomic factors on FOBT uptake was negligible. Family history of cancer was significantly associated with FOBT but the effect was very small. Use of medical checkups and physician recommendation were the most important predictors of FOBT use in men and women. Gender differences in use of medical checkups and physician recommendation to undergo an examination for the early detection of cancer partly mediated the gender differences in FOBT use.

Weiblichkeit - Mannlichkeit und psychische Gesundheit

Die Begriffe Weiblichkeit — Mannlichkeit umschreiben ein sehr komplexes Kon-strukt, das so unterschiedliche Facetten umfast wie korperliche Charakteristika, sexuelles Verhalten, Interessen, Werte und Aktivitaten, Eigenschaften und Verhaltensweisen oder nonverbales Ausdrucksverhalten (s. z.B. Bierhoff-Alfermann 1989, Spence und Sawin 1985). Eine haufig vorgenommene grobe Unterteilung des Gesamtkonstruktes definiert drei Ebenen der Geschlechtsrolle. Man unterscheidet a) das biologische Geschlecht, b) die soziale Geschlechtsrolle (in der Familie/in der Gesellschaft) als ein System von Verhaltensregeln, das vom biologischen Geschlecht abhangig ist (s. Merz 1979), sowie c) psychologische Charakteristika, die mit dem biologischen Geschlecht assoziiert werden.

A self-regulation-based intervention to increase physical activity in cancer patients

The study examined whether a behavior-change intervention focusing on self-regulatory strategies and emphasizing role model support increases physical activity (PA) among insufficiently active (not meeting PA guidelines of 150 min/week) cancer patients. Ambulatory cancer patients [N = 72; 54% female; M = 56 years, SD = 12.34; most with breast or colon cancer (34, 15%)] were enrolled in the MOTIVACTION-study, a 4-week intervention (1-hr counseling, followed by weekly phone calls), with pretest (T1), posttest (T2) and a 10-week follow-up (T3). Participants were randomized to either an exercise or to a stress management intervention (active control). The exercise intervention emphasized self-regulatory strategies (e.g. action- and coping planning and self-monitoring); patients were also encouraged to contact a physically active same-sex role model as a potential exercise partner. The active control condition consisted of coping and relaxation techniques. Sixty-seven patients remained in the study and completed the SQUASH assessment of PA and a measure of perceived stress. PA was validated by Actigraph accelerometry. At T2, 46% of the patients in the exercise group and 19% of stress management patients increased their activity levels to meet PA guidelines (>150 min/week; χ2(1) = 5.51, p = .019). At T3, participants in the exercise intervention maintained their exercise level (46%), but also 31% of the stress management patients met the guidelines. All patients reported reductions in perceived stress. Additional analyses comparing patients in the exercise group by role model contact (63% realized contact) revealed that those who had contact with their role model were significantly more likely to adhere to the recommended guidelines (T2:50%; T3:64%) compared to those who did not have contact with a role model (T2:39%; T3:15%), suggesting the potential of mobilizing role model support to facilitate PA. In sum, cancer patients may not only benefit from an exercise intervention emphasizing self-regulation, but also from stress management, regarding both reducing stress and increasing PA.

Do Psychological Variables Mediate Sex Differences in Young Adults' Alcohol Use?

This study applied an extended theory of planned behavior to test whether psychological variables mediate sex differences in alcohol consumption in social contexts. Questionnaires of 300 young adults (urban, mean age 25 years, 49% female) were collected in 2007 prior to a sociable drinking occasion; consumption data were obtained through telephone interviews thereafter. The multiple-path mediation model was analyzed using structural equation modeling. Sex differences in alcohol consumption, which were considerable, were partly mediated by the significant specific indirect effects of subjective norms through intention and of self-efficacy through both intention and willingness. Body weight was not a significant mediator. Limitations are noted and implications for future research are discussed.